Melyk
by Jet556
Summary: Long ago the Devilry Lord arrived in a part of Third Earth called the "Savage Area." He took a bride amongst the Labinnac and from that union came the High Warlord. Generations later, the Devilry Lord has returned and the Labinnac are aiding him against his enemies: the ThunderCats. They have been captured by the Labinnac and Melyk, the current High Warlord, has dark intentions.
1. Father

**Welcome everyone. This will be my first story to simply have the lead character's name as the title. Hopefully it is a good read. Enjoy and review.**

 **Father**

Melyk had built the bathhouse not out of an obsession for hygiene but rather because it gave him a new way to kill people. By boiling people alive he could kill people in a way that could cause much screaming. Staring at the boiled body of his father, he could only think of how long he had waited for this. He had done much to get rid of all in his way and now he was almost there.

Never had millennia of inbreeding caused more deformity amongst the High Warlord's family than with Melyk's own father. His father was like any other Labinnac of the High Warlord's family had a resemblance to the Devilry Lord whom others called Mumm-Ra but Melyk's father had been left with eyes half the size of his head, extra toes, webbed fingers, scales, a third eye, lame in his right leg and had a constantly protruding tongue but even with these he was considered plain by Labinnac standards instead of ugly… At least to everyone except Melyk!

It was all this inbreeding to keep the Devilry Lord's bloodline pure that had resulted in this monstrosity. Deformity wasn't even the single problem it caused… Mental problems, temper problems, fertility problems, stillbirths… This inbreeding had to be put an end to.

The fact that it was always brother and sister was something that caused Melyk to pause greatly. It had always been brother and sister every marriage in this family had been between brother and sister. Something had to be done before their bloodline ended up being as feeble as the lesser Labinnac.

Keeping it with the family was a good idea but having the marriages be strictly brother and sister would only continue what was going on. Perhaps having it be third cousins twice removed would be better but if it would do anything to stop the deformities, stillbirths and various other problems was something Melyk had no way of knowing.

Still whether he had no way of knowing or did have a way of knowing, Melyk was intent on bringing change to how things were. He was the only one willing to not turn a blind eye to what was going on amongst the family of the High Warlord and by that he meant the inbreeding, the constant plotting against one another he was perfectly fine with.

Melyk would put an end to the problems the inbreeding would cause, he would conquer the world outside of the Savage Area and he would crush the Evabon once and for all!


	2. Cousin

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 **Cousin**

Zet's body lay upon the altar. It was nothing that caused Melyk any cause to grief. He had poisoned Zet, his cousin, just as he had boiled alive his own father. He had removed two obstacles in his path to the throne.

Placing his hand upon Zet's face, Melyk felt the eyelids. Those eyelids. Behind them were the eyes that had caused Zet to be able to see and would be able to see in the afterlife.

With an extreme dislike for his cousin, Melyk did make Zet blind in the afterlife as well. Turning from Zet's husk as he dropped two orbs onto the floor, Melyk did look up into the carved eyes of a statue of the Devilry Lord.

"I may take what I want and throw away what I wish." Melyk said to the statue. "I have taken away the eyes of my predecessor because I wanted to and thrown them away because I wish too. I can smile and desecrate the dead while I smile." He then looked once more at his cousin's corpse. "And I shall do more! I have made Zet blind in the afterlife so I shall make him deaf and dumb as well. Nevermore shall he have tongue or ears…" Laughing, he made his mark and when he finished his thoughts turned away from the desecrated corpse and once more looked upon the statue. "Now, you must be wondering what I shall do next? I believe torturing the ThunderCats would be most joyous and I know many ways to torture people… If one can call the ThunderCats people!" He laughed once more. "I can smile and torture while I smile."


	3. Sister

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 **Sister**

Melyk had not been an only child. He did indeed have a sister who was many years younger than him. Melyk was forty-seven years old while his sister was only twenty-nine. Her name was Hatha and she was beautiful not just for a Labinnac woman but for a woman of any race.

Melyk was to marry her as the law dictated to keep the blood of the Devilry Lord pure. She was to be Acclaimed Kingly Bride while he would have his humble brides and hetaeras in addition. It was always the law that the Acclaimed Kingly Bride be the High Warlord's eldest living sister. Hatha was his eldest living sister and he would marry her but Melyk absolutely refused to dilute his descendant's blood by continuing with the inbreeding on such a scale.

Having fished their father's husk out of the bath, Melyk did show it before all of his family and those of high rank. Throwing it into the middle of the throne room, Melyk pointed a clawed finger at what had been his father.

"Look at that!" he exclaimed. "Does the Devilry Lord look like that? Has he a third eye? Has he extra toes? Has he scaly skin? I will not have Hatha as my Acclaimed Kingly Bride! I will have none of my sisters as my Acclaimed Kingly Bride! I will have a kinswoman as my Acclaimed Kingly Bride but not one so close that will result in that!" Melyk pointed again at his father's husk. "Who are any of you to accuse me of breaking our laws because of this? I see it on your faces!" Looks of fear suddenly appeared on the faces of many, that of Hatha herself. "Like the Devilry Lord, the High Warlord is a demon! A lesser demon perhaps but a demon nonetheless! Who amongst you dare to challenge me?" He raised his hands and let the lightning come forth as a means of intimidation. "Do you dare to be like the warlock of the previous evening? Look at me! Who am I?"

"The High Warlord!" answered all of the Labinnac in unison.

"And what is the High Warlord?" asked Melyk.

"The High Warlord is the world and the world is the High Warlord." They all replied.

"Good, now find me a new candidate for my Acclaimed Kingly Bride!" ordered Melyk. "I will have it be a kinswoman but not as close as a sister. If she be too close then you will die."


	4. Enemy

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 **Enemy**

Melyk circled Lion-O. The Last of the Lions was his enemy. He would be treated as an enemy should be. Holding the Sword of Omens, Melyk tapped Lion-O on the head.

"It was your ancestor whom imprisoned the Devilry Lord?" asked Melyk perplexed.

"It was." Replied Lion-O.

"Have you ever seen his likeness?" asked Melyk.

"Yes." Replied Lion-O.

"Was he of an equally mighty stature to the Devilry Lord?"

"No."

"How was he then?"

"Not much different from myself."

"I am not much different from you in build." Said Melyk. "That is something we have in common. We are equals, you and I."

"Not so sure about that." Commented Lion-O. "You have wings to fly on and lightning to send from your finger tips."

"Yes, equal may be a bit of a stretch." Agreed Melyk.

"Is there a point to this or did you just want to talk me to death?" asked Lion-O.

"I like to talk." Replied Melyk. "And what is the point of talking if you have no one to talk to? I can smile and talk while I smile but someone who is talking to no one, no matter how powerful they are, is still someone who is talking to no one. Have you ever thought about biology?"

"What are you getting at?"

"Race is determined by the father." Stated Melyk. "Proper father's produce proper children, improper father's produce improper children. Your cleric friend is not romantically involved with anyone is she? I've just thought of the perfect humiliation for her. To become one of the lesser brides or hetaeras of the High Warlord, a descendant of her enemy the Devilry Lord."


	5. Friend

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 **Friend**

The concept of friendship is rare amongst the Labinnac. For a race that is so bloodthirsty that they will quite literally stop and attacked someone they saw bleeding, it would seem impossible for such a thing to happen. Yet such things were not unheard of. Melyk did confide in a young relation. Not young enough to qualify as Balor's Labinnac counterpart nor young enough to qualify as Llud's Labinnac counterpart but he was much younger than Melyk nonetheless.

His name was Khronoztut. He was in many ways the kindest of the Labinnac but the Labinnac concept of kindness basically amounted to not killing someone because one was bored.

"Why, Melyk?" asked Khronoztut. "Why marry the cheetah?"

"I do not plan to." Stated Melyk. "I merely gave them an incentive to escape faster."

"Escape?" This perplexed Khronoztut. Why would Melyk want his enemies to escape?

"So they might bring us and our… 'allies' to the Soul Stone." Melyk was hesitant to use the word allies and even then he did not mean it. He did not consider the animals and Evabon following the Devilry Lord allies. He considered them slaves.

Khronoztut stared at Melyk. Such a plan was difficult for him to comprehend. Would it not be better just to kill the ThunderCats instead of tricking them?

"I am not sure of this."

"Then don't be the one to follow them!" exclaimed Melyk. "I'll find someone else!"

"Me?" asked Khronoztut. "You want me to follow them?"

"If you aren't sure I'm sure your brother Kang can do this for me."

"No, no!" Khronoztut looked up at his much taller relation for the first time since the conversation started. "I can do it. Kang is too soft in the head anyway."

"Then you will wait for them to escape." Said Melyk.

"Why not just unlock the door for them?"

"They would expect it to be a trap."


	6. Dreams

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 **Dreams**

Melyk was many things and one of those things was an architect. His plan for the throne room was to demolish it and replace it with something better. He planned to have it be a columned hall with the throne being before the feet of a great statue of the Devilry Lord.

Seeking safety from his kinsmen and kinswomen, Melyk had greatly modified a part of the fortress that served as the home for the High Warlord's family. He had made it a sanctuary for himself and by that it meant a maze that only he could navigate.

In the middle of this vast maze was a sarcophagus made of the most fascinating of material. It was here that Melyk slept, in the safety of his sarcophagus. It could be said that he was very much like Mumm-Ra in some respects if Mumm-Ra slept at all.

Still like anyone, Melyk dreamed. His dreams would seem nightmarish to anyone but to himself they were things of unbridled joy.

Standing upon a cliff with arms crossed, Melyk watched as Labinnac warriors threw Evabon infants into a river so they might drown. The Evabon were numerous and if he were to conquer Third Earth he would have to keep the Labinnac's greatest enemy from committing mutiny against him once he had conquered the world.

Then in the new throne room did he stand, three adult Evabon were on their knees as three Labinnac stood behind them with spears poised to go into their back.

"A High Warlord must be just to Labinnac." Said Melyk. The Labinnac thrust their spears into the backs of the Evabon. "For Evabon the price of disobedience shall be death. I'll run every river on Third Earth black with their blood if need be!"


	7. Sons

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 **Sons**

To say that Melyk was without offspring would be untrue. He was unwilling to mate with such an immediate relative as a sister but he was not unwilling to mate. Melyk had two sons: Maneptah and Baenre.

Maneptah was fifteen years old while Baenre was seven years old. They had as much of their father in their appearance as two sons could but they were as different from the Labinnac way as possible.

When Melyk had awoken and ventured forth from his sanctuary, he did find Maneptah waiting for him. Upon seeing Maneptha, Melyk did straighten up to his full height and stare at his son.

"Greetings, father." Said Maneptah.

"What do you want?" asked Melyk.

"Only to greet you." Replied Maneptah.

"You are a liar." Commented Melyk. "You are plotting to kill me. You are a member of the High Warlord's family, I am the High Warlord you are my son! You want the throne already!"

"I do not!" said Maneptah truthfully. "I do not think there could be a better High Warlord than you, why should I plot your death?"

"It is the way of our family!" exclaimed Melyk.

"But why?" asked Maneptah.

Melyk did not know the answer. It had always been that way. He merely stood looking at Maneptah before speaking. "Where is Baenre? Where is your brother?"

"Playing with other children." Stated Maneptah.

"Why?" asked Melyk.

"Children play, not all children brood like you did as I am told you did." Replied Maneptah.

"Would that they did." Muttered Melyk. "Then I would know then well."


	8. Brother

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 **Brother**

It would be untrue to say Melyk was without any male siblings. By all biological facts, he had been the second born son of his parent's union. By a series of events however, Melyk had no brothers.

His name while he had been considered a member of the High Warlord's family had been Hauz. Then Melyk had his idea to humiliate his elder brother. The end result was Melyk personally removing Hauz' wings, disfiguring his face in such a way that he was beyond recognition. Melyk was stripped of his rank, his name and worst of all his race. He was given a mark that identified him as nothing better than a beast to be hunted.

He was now called Davaak, someone who wandered around in the darkness and as he wandered he found the ThunderCats in their prison. Opening the door, Davaak watched as the strange new faces stared at him.

"What is it?" asked Panthro.

"I think it's a Labinnac." Commented Tygra.

Davaak did not know what they said. He merely knew that he was the subject of their discussion. He walked from one to the next until he had looked at all of them.

What were they to him? They were just things in a cell.

And then he looked down at his legs, he legs that were as scar covered in his face. He remembered what Melyk had done to him when he had been Hauz. He had some idea, if not a wrong idea, about what was in store for them.

Pointing at the door, Davaak looked at all of the ThunderCats. He did not say anything, he merely pointed.

"Is this some sort of trap?" asked Lion-O aggressively.

Davaak did not understand what Lion-O had said. He merely placed his hands on the ThunderCat's shoulders.

"Who are you?" asked Cheetara. Davaak did not understand. He merely stared at her. Cheetara then pointed at herself and said her name. Then did Davaak understand.

Putting a nail into a freshly healed cut, Davaak did bring forth blood and he wrote his name in the Labinnac writing on the wall.


	9. Sibling Rivalry

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 **Sibling Rivalry**

Davaak's name was left unknown to the ThunderCats because they could not read the Labinnac writing. Labinnac writing was very much a set of hieroglyphs and unknown to those who had not grown up with such writing. For the ThunderCats however they were nothing but symbols.

His name however was soon made known to them when Melyk entered the room. "Davaak! You mad fool! You dare to enter Karthage after what I did to you?"

Davaak response was a grimace while motioning for Melyk to come at him.

"If you want to fight me then you are—" Melyk didn't get any farther. Davaak held his hands out and shot electricity from them with such a force it felt like being struck by a cannonball, sending Melyk flying back.

"You're one of them?" asked Lion-O in surprise.

Davaak might not have understood what Lion-O had said but he understood the tone. He turned to Lion-O and gave a nod.

"My brother will be a memory very soon." Said Melyk, getting up and returning Davaak's lightning with his own.

"Looks like our cue to get out here!" exclaimed Panthro. "With my metal arms I'd rather not be in the middle of this lightning storm!"

"I second that!" added Tygra.

The ThunderCats escaped as Davaak and Melyk fought one another. Their lightning made any storm seem like how a candle does to a blazing inferno. At the end of it all however, Davaak was even forced to retreat.

It was Melyk's anger however that went on for quite a bit for the fight had ended after five minutes. He raged for half an hour, sending lightning everywhere. Ultimately, he recomposed himself. The time for the tracking had begun.


	10. Himself

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 **Himself**

Melyk sat alone. In his mind he saw them all. He saw Davaak, he saw Maneptah and Baenre, he saw Hatha… They were all against him they were all plotting his death.

Paranoia was setting in.

He may have changed the way succession worked but he had been raised in a time when succession was not in such a straight line, resulting in murder just to get closer to the position of heir apparent. The paranoia those ways had created had its grip on him.

Gripped the corners of a wall, Melyk's eyes scanned the area. All he saw were the faces of his predecessors carved onto the walls around him.

They stared at him, Stared at him with those cold and lifeless eyes. The past High Warlords were plotting against him as well from beyond the grave.

It was time for him to leave on a military expedition. To the Valley of the Tombs first! There the cold, lifeless eyes of his predecessors would not be able to find him.

 **The End**


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